Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur sev...

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Main Authors: Ahmed, Akhter, Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab, Hoddinott, John F., Roy, Shalini
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053
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author Ahmed, Akhter
Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab
Hoddinott, John F.
Roy, Shalini
author_browse Ahmed, Akhter
Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab
Hoddinott, John F.
Roy, Shalini
author_facet Ahmed, Akhter
Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab
Hoddinott, John F.
Roy, Shalini
author_sort Ahmed, Akhter
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur several years after interventions end. We study the effects of a transfer program implemented as a cluster-randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014 – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) – on food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess TMRI’s impacts at three post-program time points: before the shock (2018), amidst the shock (2021), and after the immediate effects of the shock (2022). We find that TMRI showed protective effects on household food security during and after the pandemic, but program design features “mattered”; positive impacts were only seen in the treatment arm that combined cash transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (Cash+BCC). Other treatment arms – cash only, and food only – showed no significant sustained effects on our household food security measures after the intervention ended, nor did they show protective effects during the pandemic. A plausible mechanism is that investments made by Cash+BCC households in productive assets – specifically livestock – increased their pre-shock resilience capacity.
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spelling CGSpace1550532025-12-08T10:11:39Z Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh Ahmed, Akhter Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab Hoddinott, John F. Roy, Shalini COVID-19 resilience shock social protection Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur several years after interventions end. We study the effects of a transfer program implemented as a cluster-randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014 – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) – on food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess TMRI’s impacts at three post-program time points: before the shock (2018), amidst the shock (2021), and after the immediate effects of the shock (2022). We find that TMRI showed protective effects on household food security during and after the pandemic, but program design features “mattered”; positive impacts were only seen in the treatment arm that combined cash transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (Cash+BCC). Other treatment arms – cash only, and food only – showed no significant sustained effects on our household food security measures after the intervention ended, nor did they show protective effects during the pandemic. A plausible mechanism is that investments made by Cash+BCC households in productive assets – specifically livestock – increased their pre-shock resilience capacity. 2024-10-01 2024-10-01T19:13:55Z 2024-10-01T19:13:55Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132862 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143574 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126900 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146008 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/137823 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2024. Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2282. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053
spellingShingle COVID-19
resilience
shock
social protection
Ahmed, Akhter
Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab
Hoddinott, John F.
Roy, Shalini
Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title_full Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title_fullStr Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title_short Does nutrition-sensitive social protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
title_sort does nutrition sensitive social protection build longer term resilience experimental evidence from bangladesh
topic COVID-19
resilience
shock
social protection
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053
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